Just a Friend
by DamianDrake22
Summary: Luka, an old classmate and former love interest of Marinette, shows back up with the clear intention of winning Marinette's heart. Adrien should be totally fine with this, right? After all, he's just started to get to know Kagami, and Mari is JUST A FRIEND. Then, why does he feel jealous when he sees Luka and Mari kiss?
1. Chapter 1

"She's just a friend."

Four words. That's all. Just four small, simple, and (at the time) true words. But little did Adrien know just how much that would affect his life, relationships, and safety, and how much he would regret it.

However, this is not where our story begins, because for you to understand, I must take you back to a few days earlier, as an unsuspecting Alya made her way up the school steps, fingers rhythmically tapping her phone screen. She was updating the Ladyblog on an akuma attack that had happened last night. Dubbed "The Spoiler" for being akumatized while pissed off that someone spoiled her favorite show for her, she wreaked havoc on the citizens of Paris by "spoiling" their lives. She would make some strangely specific predictions about random bystanders' lives, then use her remote to make them come true. Ladybug and Chat Noir naturally defeated them, though not before chat found himself wrapped up in a ball of yarn laced with cat nip. She had taken some pics of Ladybug and Chat being all flirty and intimate, and Alya was in the middle of writing another "LadyNoir" post to go with when she heard a familiar voice.

"Alya! Dude!" Nino shouted as he raced towards Alya. She giggled quietly to herself. Nino and Alya have been dating for five months, give or take a few weeks. She never saw herself dating Nino, but after that whole Ladybug-locking-us-in-a-cage happened during the Animan attack, they have been smitten with one another.

When Nino got closer, she smiled up at him with her big amber eyes. "Hey Nino! How's-"

"We have a problem," Nino cut her off, out of breath, and looking slightly completely terrified.

Alya was taken aback. Nino never cut her off, and certainly had never looked so concerned.

"What do you mean 'We have a problem'?" she mocked, seeing Nino's face break for a second as he tried to stifle a giggle. No matter what, she always got to him. That's why, even though he didn't want to admit it, he was totally in love with her. "Is it an akuma? *gasp* Is Ladybug here?!" Alya added excitedly.

"One, if you're excited at the possibility of an akuma just to see Ladybug, then you're crazier than I thought. And two, …. You'll just have to see," Nino answered, grabbing Alya's arm and pulling her inside. It happened so fast she didn't have time to protest him calling her crazy. Only blush.

Nino made his way over to a small gathering of students: Juleka, Rose, Max, Mylene, Ivan, and someone else she didn't recognize. He had shoulder length hair dyed blue, bright blue eyes, a gold hoop earring in one ear, and wore black jeans, a graphic tee with a shark on it, and a black leather jacket partially covering the shirt. Each forearm was lined with different types of bracelets and bands of all sizes, materials, and designs. His face lit up as he saw Nino walking towards him.

"TURTLE MAN!" he shouted, and sprinted at Nino, wrapping him in a bear hug so intense Alya was afraid that they were going to fall over. Luckily, Nino braced himself, and eventually reciprocated the hug.

After a period of way longer than a normal bro-hug, Alya cleared her throat. "Care to fill me in on what's happening here, _turtle man?_ " Alya asked sarcastically.

Nino finally came back to the mortal plane and broke the hug. While keeping one arm around him, Nino introduced the mysterious man, "This is Luka, Juleka's older brother. He's an old friend of mine who I haven't seen in years. He used to go to school with me- well technically he was in the grade ahead of me, but we hung out all the time-he was an honorary member of our class, we would spend so much time together- especially with-"

"I'm Alya by the way," Alya interrupted Nino's mini rant. Nino blushed hard as Alya pointed out his rambling. It reminded them both of a certain pig-tailed friend of theirs.

"Ah, Alya. It's an honor to meet you. And I must apologize for Nino. He never did quite know how to handle himself around beautiful women such as yourself," he replied with a wink.

Alya let out a laugh while Nino continued to blush harder. "Well, Luka, you are quite the charmer. If I wasn't already with Nino, maybe I'd go for you."

The look on Nino's face was hilarious. Never before had he felt so confused, angry, flabbergasted, and on the verge of laughter ever. He loved his girlfriend, but she was a bit much at times.

"While I'm honored that you think that, my heart belongs to one very special girl," said Luka almost dreamingly. Alya started to smile at this obviously sweet boy, interested in getting to know him better as a friend if he stuck around. Especially since he seemed to be such good friends with Nino. Alya looked over at her boyfriend, but found him looking…worried? Nino was always very laid back and not a whole lot got to him, so him looking upset was very odd. Alya then remembered what Nino had said about them "having a problem." Before she could think of a way to end the conversation, Nino did it for her.

"Luka, I'd love to keep catching up, but I actually needed to talk to Alya privately about something," Nino said somewhat suspiciously. Thankfully, Luka didn't notice, as he was scanning the entry-way for some reason.

"Hm? Oh, no-yea go ahead. Besides, I still have one more person to go see. Catchya later dude!" Luka responded absentmindedly as he walked off. Again, inexplicably, Nino looked like he had gotten punched in the gut.

"Nino, what's going on? Why do you keep looking like your hamster just died?" Alya asked as she stepped in front of her boyfriend to face him.

Nino took a deep breath, and explained: "That was Luka, Juleka's older brother. He used to live here when we were kids, until he moved away three years ago." At this point Nino held up a finger as Alya was about to interject. "Before he left, he was the most popular guy at school. Everyone loved him. He was-and is-smart, funny, charismatic, and talented. When he left, a lot of people got hurt. Some worse than others."

"Then why are you acting like this?" Alya interrupted. "If you were such good friends and everyone missed him so much, why are you acting like this is a disaster? And what is this problem you were talking about?"

Nino was about to answer, but stopped. His eyes were looking above Alya's head. His face went pale. The room was suddenly silent. Alya turned around, and began to understand. Because what she saw, what Nino saw, the reason the whole world was silent, was Marinette, frozen in place, an unreadable expression on her face, staring back at an equally silent and unreadable Luka.

As Luka made a slow, tentative step towards Marinette, Nino leaned down to Alya to fill in the blanks. Whispering, he said, "There is our problem. You've been trying to help Marinette with Adrien because Marinette is in love with him. The reason she needs your help is because she can't function around Adrien. The reason she can't is walking towards her right now."

Alya didn't know what she was feeling, but knew she didn't like it. She stayed silent, staring at Luka as he walked toward Marinette, while Nino continued, "Marinette loved Luka long before she knew Adrien. From when we were kids to the day he left, she loved him. And he loved her back. When he left it broke her. I'm not sure how Mari feels now, or how she's going to react even, but I know how he feels. He's going to win her back. No matter what he has to do, he still loves her and is not letting go."


	2. Chapter 2

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 171,476 words in the English language. There is a name for every single thing that has ever existed, a name for every place ever discovered, and words to describe every part of those things and places in a multitude of different ways. There are millions of words that can be combined in an infinite number of ways to form names for all humans that have ever existed. Words are used to describe feelings of love, hatred, anxiety, worry, joy, sorrow, grief, relief, jubilance. We use words when we greet and part with other people, and in between have conversations full of words. Words are combined in rhythmically satisfying ways and put over music to create songs. This intro describing how many words there are and how they're used took 137 words. Yet, the instant her eyes locked with Luka's, Marinette forgot every single word that she knew.

He was here. He was back. After he left three years ago on his scholarship to an art school in Nice, after he shattered her heart, he was back.

He started to walk towards her, slowly and tentatively. The sound of his footsteps on the pavement made Marinette acutely aware of the fact that the room was now completely silent, as all eyes were watching. Everyone knew the relationship the two had, and they all knew what happened when he left. Well, all but one, and Marinette thanked God that it looked like he wasn't here yet. If he had been, Marinette would have…. actually, she didn't know what she would have done. Probably more of the same blabbing and mumbling and falling over herself as always.

She must have zoned out as she followed that train of thought, because it wasn't until those piercing blue eyes were staring into hers that she remembered what was happening. He looked down and slowly, tentatively, took her hand. Marinette expected to feel something, anything, but his hands just felt cold and lifeless. All the while, Marinette's eyes never left Luka's face. Never moved, never blinked. The rest of their class was still watching: Alix, Juleka, Rose, Mylene, Ivan, Kim, Nathaniel, Max, Sabrina, Nino, who was talking Alya, even Chole was looking up from her phone for once to witness what was happening.

Luka let out a light chuckle, re-met Marinette's eyes, gave a small, smug smile, and started, "I have been waiting…" he paused for a second and looked up at the ceiling. Marinette had forgotten how his voice sounded, so sweet, soft, yet with a surprising amount of cockiness and smugness to it. He looked back at Marinette and tried again. "I have waited three years, four months, thirteen days, five hours, twenty nine minutes, and-" he checked his wrist like he was looking at a watch, even though he wasn't wearing one, "four seconds for this conversation. I've played it over and over in my head, all the different ways this could go. But, now that I'm here, the only thing that I can think to say is…"

He leaned in closer, a massive, toothy smile plastered across his face.

"I forgot how beautiful you are."

Marinette felt inexplicably angry at this. No, scratch that. She knew exactly why that made her so upset. Before she could think, she shot back.

"You forgot?" Marinette said, voice calm, yet you could hear her anger bubbling underneath if you listened carefully. Luka was not listening carefully, so he continued smiling and nodded.

"You forgot? Like you forgot to say goodbye? Like you forgot to call? Like you forgot to visit?" Marinette questioned, getting louder with each word. The look on Luka's face had faded from that of a jubilant smile to complete and utter shock and despair. Marinette was almost proud of herself. After all the pain he caused her, this was her time. Everything she wanted to say, everything she bottled up for years, it was coming out now. And boy did it feel good.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did you think that after all this time, the whole three years, four months, and the other bullshit, you would come back and sweep me off my feet? And I would have waited for you this whole time? Did you expect me to fall into your arms the second you wanted me?" Marinette was properly screaming in Luka's face and had long since ripped her hand from Luka's. Luka wasn't even looking at Marinette anymore. He just stared at the ground, awkwardly shuffling side to side.

"You told me you loved me. And I loved you," Marinette was choking up, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "I loved you. And you left me. You left without even saying goodbye. You never even told me when you were leaving. Do you know how I found out you left? Juleka posted a picture of the two of you at the airport. That's how. I sent you fifty texts that day. I called you ten times. You never even looked at them, did you?" Luka said nothing, which Marinette took as an answer. Tears were rolling down her cheeks now.

Marinette's hand lurched out, and everyone let out a collective gasp as the sound of her hand hitting his face reverberated around the schoolyard. Luka let out a short yelp as he doubled over and clutched his face, heartbroken eyes looking up at Marinette, silently begging for an explanation, as if the last five minutes weren't enough. Instead, all he got was a furious Marinette in tears, staring down at Luka coldly, saying through tears and as harshly as she could, "Don't talk to me again."

With that she turned and walked out the school doors, leaving in a stunned silence Luka, her classmates, students from other grades, a janitor, and even some teachers and Mr. Damocles. Once she hit the side walk, she took off in a sprint towards home. It didn't take long, considering the bakery was only a few short blocks away and Ladybug-ing for almost a year had put her in incredible shape. She sprinted right up to her room and locked the door.

Back at the school, Alya was about to chase after Marinette until Nino caught her. He put his hands on her shoulders and spoke to her quietly, "I think I should be the one who goes to Mari right now. Someone is going to have to explain this to her parents and I know more about what's going on than you."

"But I'm her best friend!" Alya countered. "I'm supposed to be there for her whenever she needs me, no questions asked!"

"I know I know I know and she will need you but right now I'm better equipped to handle the whole situation," said Nino. Usually, Alya would keep fighting until she got what she want (and Nino usually gave in), but after everything that just transpired and because Alya had never seen Nino act this way before, she let it go.

"Alright. Go do what you need to do. I have faith in you."

Nino let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thanks babe. You're the best," he said, leaning down and planting a quick kiss on his girlfriend's head. He ran off, and Alya smiled to herself. Even though she didn't want to admit it yet, she was completely in love with him.

It wasn't long until Nino burst through the doors of the bakery, out of breath and sweating a little. When he entered, Sabine came down the stairs separating the bakery from their house, thinking she was greeting a customer. She saw it was Nino, and relief flooded her face.

"Oh, Nino, sweetie, how are you?" Sabine greeted Nino with a tight hug.

Nino smiled. He always loved coming to the bakery, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to stop by as often as he used to. He had fond memories of himself, Marinette, and Luka coming in to cold lemonade and fresh cookies and croissants after running around outside. At least, they were fond memories until today. "I'm fine Sabine. I take it you've seen Marinette?" he questioned. Sabine pulled away, and he could see how worried she was.

"Yes, I have. What happened, Nino? She just stormed up to her room and locked the door without saying anything to either of us. This is so unlike her. I haven't seen her like this since-"

"Luka," Nino answered. Sabine smiled at Nino, thinking he had just finished her sentence. However, the look on Nino's face showed Sabine that he hadn't finished her sentence. He had answered her question.

Sabine's eyes widened with horror as her hands covered her mouth. "Nino, what happened?" she asked, voice wavering slightly. Nino filled her in on the events of the morning leading up till now: Luka returning, him still liking Marinette, him telling her he forgot how beautiful she was, Marinette ripping him a new one, Marinette slapping him, Marinette taking off, and Nino following her back to the bakery in which they now stood.

Just as he finished, Tom's massive frame came lumbering down the stairs. "I've been trying to coax her out and get her to talk, but she hasn't done anything. I haven't seen her like this since-"

"Luka," Sabine answered. Much like Sabine did only a few minutes earlier, Tom thought that she was only finishing his thought. He looked affectionately at his wife, until the defeat on the faces of Sabine and Nino lead him to the same realization as his wife.

"What happened?" Tom asked, now looking very worried. Sabine walked over and put a hand on her husband's massive arm.

"Nino told me what happened at school this morning. I'll fill you in so Nino won't have to repeat it again," said Sabine. Nino was silently grateful, for he didn't know if he could bare reliving the experience for a second time in ten minutes. "Besides," Sabine now looked at Nino, "I think it's time you head back to school. You don't want to miss too much, don't you?"

As much as Nino wanted to protest, he knew deep down that Sabine was right. He gave the pair a defeated nod and started to leave. Once he was half way out the door, he turned back and asked Tom and Sabine, "Should I tell Mlle. Bustier that Marinette won't be in school today?"

Sabine and Tom shared a sad glance and nodded at Nino. He nodded back and took off back for the school.


	3. Chapter 3: A New Challenger Approaches

Hey everyone! Quick foreword. I know it's been a while on this one. I had some really bad writer's block and didn't know where to go with this story. I had an idea of a basic outline with some major plot points, but I was less sure on how to get from point to point. However, starting another story (I Have Nothing, check it out, it's gonna be wild) gave me the motivation to finish this chapter. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, school and stuff is a little crazy right now, but seeing support for this story makes me feel really awesome. I hope you guys enjoy!

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We all know how oblivious Adrien is. Whether it's for not noticing Marinette's enormous crush on him or making the connection between Ladybug and Marinette, it's fun to make fun of him for it. So you know it's saying something when even Adrien felt that something was off as he walked into school that morning. He was slow getting up and out to school, still feeling tired after the fight with Spoiler last night, meaning he (unknowingly) missed everything that happened between Marinette and Luka. However, he could feel the aftermath.

Adrien noticed it the second he walked into school. The air, the energy, the atmosphere, the mood, whatever you want to call it. It was way off. Before school there was usually the ambient sounds of chatter and laughter, with groups of students congregating in and around the entrance of the school. And, since it was a Friday, there was always more joy and eagerness in the air, as everyone was talking about their plans for the weekend. Today, there was none of that. The school was unsettlingly quiet, with only a few hushed conversations going on. There was a feeling of nervousness and anxiety, like the whole school was on edge.

That energy carried over into the classroom. Usually, before the bell rang: Nathaniel would be in the back doodling away on his sketchpad, Rose and Juleka would be giggling away at something or another, Ivan and Mylene would be talking or flirting (or just being cute in general), Kim and Alix would be arguing over something incredibly insignificant and superficial as Max sat nearby looking annoyed yet amused at the same time, Chloe and Sabrina would be gossiping, or more accurately Chloe would say things at Sabrina and she would agree no matter what, and Nino, Alya, and Marinette would all be talking joyously about the Ladyblog or Nino's next gig or Marinette's fashion.

But today, the room was lifeless. Everyone was sitting in their seats, even though the bell wouldn't ring for another three minutes. Nathaniel's sketchpad was away and his hands were still. Rose and Juleka were having a hushed conversation, with Juleka looking very worried and Rose looking worried for her. Mylene's head was on her desk and Alix had a sympathetic hand on her back. Ivan looked longingly at Mylene, but it seemed like he was too afraid to move from his desk. Max had his eyes closed, like he was trying to process something, occasionally answering something Kim had just asked, who himself also looked like he was trying to process something. Even Chloe seemed to be affected, because she just gave Adrien a wave instead of her usual attempts to squeeze him to death. She turned back to Sabrina, and the two started incessantly whispering. Even Mlle. Bustier seemed to be shaken up, too. When he went to sit down, he noticed both Marinette and Nino were missing, and Alya was deep in thought.

Confused as to what was going on, Adrien set his bag down at his seat and made his way over to Alya. She noticed him coming and gave him a weak smile as she greeted him. "Hey Adrien," Alya said, quietly. Adrien frowned slightly. Adrien? No Sunshine? No Pretty Boy? Not even Agreste? Alya almost always called him by one of those nicknames. It was her way of welcoming him as her friend.

"Alya, what's going on? Why's everyone acting so strange? Did something happen?" Adrien asked, concerned. She looked like she was going to answer, but at that moment Nino burst into the class, sweaty and out of breath. He walked over to Mlle. Bustier's desk to whisper something to the teacher but because no one was moving, everyone heard what he was saying.

"Marinette won't be in school today," said Nino, who looked every bit as shaken up as the rest of the class. Bustier just nodded and gave a quiet "Ok." Nino walked over to his desk and sat down next to Adrien, who was still completely flabbergasted as to what was happening. Why is Marinette not coming to school today? Why is Nino all sweaty? Why was everyone acting like their hamster died? All these questions remained unanswered as the bell rang almost the second Nino sat down. Mlle. Bustier went right into the lesson, not giving Adrien any time to talk to Nino.

About 15 minutes into the lesson, something about history Adrien wasn't paying the closest attention to, there was a knock on the door as Mr. Damocles walked in with a girl trailing him. Adrien's eyes went wide at the girl. It was Kagami. In regular school clothes. It was a little weird for Adrien to see her without her signature red fencing uniform. Kagami scanned the classroom, and when her eyes landed on Adrien, she smiled at him. "Wait," Adrien thought, "Is she… cute?" Seeing her like this was like Adrien meeting a new person. Adrien shook the thought off, as he reminded himself his heart belongs only to Ladybug.

"Attention everyone," Mr. Damocles interrupted the class. "This here is Kagami, and she will be joining your class. She started taking fencing here a few weeks ago and has now officially enrolled in classes." Mr. Damocles turned to Adrien. "Adrien, since you take fencing with Kagami and know her better then anyone else in the class, I'm trusting that you will show her around the school. Understood?"

Adrien quietly nodded his head. Although, yes, him and Kagami were in the same fencing class and sparred often as the two top students, she wasn't that sociable outside during breaks or after practice. So, really, he knew as much about her as Alya or Nino did. Nevertheless, when the principal tells you to do something, you listen.

"Very well. Mlle. Bustier, you may continue with class," said Mr. Damocles as he left the classroom.

"Thank you, Mr. Damocles," responded Mlle. Bustier. She turned to Kagami and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, you heard him, my name is Mlle. Bustier. Students, I expect you to welcome Kagami into our class and treat her well. Understood?"

The response from the class was weak and sparse, people still down from whatever happened this morning. A quick glare from the teacher was all it took for the class to perk up with a cheerful sounding, "Yes, Mlle. Bustier!"

"Excellent," responded Mlle. Bustier with a satisfied smile. "We'll get you a permanent seat tomorrow, but for today you can sit right there next to Alya and behind Adrien, ok?" she asked Kagami.

"That sounds wonderful," Kagami replied, turning to Adrien on "wonderful." Again, Adrien got butterflies in his stomach, but why? As Kagami walked past him and took Marinette's spot, Adrien knew that whatever trouble he had focusing before, it was going to get a lot worse.


End file.
